Signs of the King: The Tenacity of Faith

Prayer in the Kingdom

March 11, 2018

As Christians, we have a taste of the goodness of God and his kingdom in the gospel, but we often see little fruit from the gospel in our lives because we do not have the strength that comes from spending time in the presence of God. Consequently, others don't get to taste the goodness of God through us. But in Luke 11:1-13, Jesus invites us spend time in the presence of God, our Father, so that the kingdom of God gets worked into our lives and into the world around us through prayer. Listen in as we consider prayer in the kingdom of God together.

1 Corinthians: Bodies Bought at a Price, 3-11-2018

March 11, 2018

We often talk about the Bible’s teaching on sex and sexuality in purely negative terms. Let’s talk about the positive: What did God create sex for? What does “wholeness” in this area of life look like?

Is this passage’s emphasis on the importance of our bodies new or strange to you? How does this relate to what the Bible teaches us about sexual sin?

Woven into the fabric of Christian theology is the insistence that Jesus Christ is the truest, most perfect, most glorious human being who has ever lived—and that those who want to experience true, full, rich humanness must become like him, must pattern their lives after Jesus’ humanity.

Wesley Hill

The monstrosity of sexual intercourse outside of marriage is that those who indulge in it are trying to isolate one kind of union (the sexual) from all the other kids of union which were intended to go along with it and make up the total union. The Christian attitude does not mean that there is anything wrong about sexual pleasure, any more than about the pleasure of eating. It means that you must not isolate that pleasure and try to get it by itself, any more than you ought to try to get the pleasure of taste without swallowing and digesting, by chewing things and spitting them out again.

1 Corinthians: “See You In Court?!”, 3-4-2018

In your own words, what does this passage teach us about lawsuits among Christians?

Name some ways you tend to solve your conflicts through raw exercises of power. How does the gospel invite us to respond differently?

Christians ought to endure injuries with patience.

John Calvin

For the sake of the kingdom, Jesus wants his disciples to give up their rights, interests, benefits and safeguards. … This is not saying that the kingdom of God consists in having no property, or in the absence of rights. … But it means that God’s kingdom represents something higher than a hierarchy of human values and interests, and that the “righteousness of the kingdom” teach us to subject everything to this.

The Scandal of the Kingdom

March 04, 2018

In our regular lives, we all encounter things that might be deeply embarrassing for us. But few of us encounter things that rise to the level of scandal. In Matthew 11:1-19, however, we learn that just being associated with Jesus was and is something that can be 'scandalous.' Listen in as we learn why it can be scandalous to be associated with Jesus and how we respond to such scandal.

A New Kind of Kingdom

February 25, 2018

In Luke 12:35-40, Jesus likens the Kingdom of God to the relationship between a master and his slaves. But the kind of master/slave relationship Jesus describes in this parable completely turns the world upside down as Jesus reveals the new kind of master we find in God's kingdom and the new kind of priorities that master brings into the lives of his people. Listen in as we consider what this parable means for how we see God and what we make our biggest priorities.

1 Corinthians: Tough Love, 2-25-2018

Talking about “discipline” in the church community can be off-putting, even intimidating. But, in what ways can this “tough love” actually be a form of care, kindness, and grace?

What would it take to foster a caring, “safe,” gracious, winsome community that is also truth-telling and honest about sin?

In families and other close communities, sometimes we operate with a version of a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. … Communities that love truth will make a safe place for the awkwardness of confession, forgiveness, and healing. Where truthfulness and confession are practiced, communities depend on fidelity, the assurance that members won’t abandon one another as they reveal their sins and weaknesses and move toward maturity and holiness. Truthful communities are communities of encouragement and hospitality.

Christine Pohl

A critical test of genuine love is whether we are willing to confront those we care for. Nothing is more difficult than disciplining a brother or sister in Christ who is trapped in sin. It is always agonizing work – messy, complicated, often unsuccessful, emotionally exhausting, and potentially divisive. This is why most church leaders avoid discipline at all costs. But that is not love.

Signs of the King: A Miracle Mile

Kingdom Economics

February 18, 2018

We all lose perspective. Our value systems quickly get hijacked and things that aren’t truly that important take precedence. We become willing to sacrifice things like family for quick satisfaction. The parable of Luke 16:1-8 reminds us of what is truly important and calls us to realign our hearts and lives to God’s value system. Listen in as we consider what God values and what that means for us.

1 Corinthians: Followers and Leaders, 2-18-2018

1) What’s your idea of a good or healthy “follower” and “leader”? Where have those ideas come from? How does Jesus transform the way we follow and lead?

2) Name one way you can relate to leaders in a more healthy, more gospel-grounded way this coming week.

Anyone who wrestles with an uncertain future on behalf of others—anyone who uses her gifts, talents, and skills to influence the direction of others for the greater good—is a leader. No one is a mere follower. If you are a follower of God, for instance, then you are called to lead. Every believer is called to help someone grow into maturity—and such is the core calling of a leader.
Dan Allender

In America, credentials qualify a person to lead. In Jesus, the chief qualification is character. In America, success is measured by material accumulation, power, and the positions that we hold. In Jesus, success is measured by material generosity, humility, and the people whom we serve. In America, leaders crave recognition and credit. In Jesus, leaders think less of themselves and give credit to others. In America, leaders compare and compete so they will flourish. In Jesus, leaders sacrifice and serve so others will flourish. In America, leadership often means “My glory and happiness at your expense.” In Jesus, leadership always means “Your growth and wholeness at my expense.” In America, the strong and powerful rise to the top. In Jesus, the meek inherit the earth.
Scott Sauls

The Messy Kingdom Mixture

February 11, 2018

In Scripture, the Kingdom of God is an immeasurably valuable thing that's seen as arriving with Jesus' earthly ministry. However, as Jesus tells us in Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43, though the Kingdom of God has a present beginning with him, it also has a greater, future glory we have to wait for. Consequently, life in the kingdom of God here and now means we will always find ourselves waiting for this invaluable future glory - and waiting amidst all this life's pain, brokenness, and evil. Listen in as we consider how we wait for the great, future glory amidst our current circumstances.

Signs of the King: A Deeper Healing

1 Corinthians: Revealed By The Spirit, 2-4-2018

February 04, 2018

Do you believe in the Holy Spirit?

What's one way you can spend this week dependent on the Spirit for wisdom, knowledge and understanding?

God has made us for himself, but we have run from him. The heart of our
lostness is our profound self-focus. We do not want to know him, if knowing him is on his terms. We are happy to have a god we can more or less manipulate; we do not want a god to whom we admit that we are rebels in heart and mind, that we do not deserve his favor, and that our only hope is in his pardoning and transforming grace. Or, more precisely, we cannot fathom such things unless we have the Spirit of God.
D.A. Carson

We need to repent of the haughty way in which we sometimes stand in
judgment upon Scripture and must learn to sit humbly under its judgments
instead. If we come to Scripture with our minds made up, expecting to hear
from it only an echo of our own thoughts and never the thunderclap of God's, then indeed he will not speak to us and we shall only be confirmed in our own prejudices. We must allow the Word of God to confront us, to disturb our security, to undermine our complacency and to overthrow our patterns of thought and behavior.
John Stott

The Cost of the Kingdom

February 04, 2018

In Luke 14:25-33, Jesus draws us to ask, what does it mean to really be his disciple? Is it just being a 'fan' of his? Or is it something more? Will it cost me something to follow him? Listen in as we consider what it truly means to be one of Christ's disciples and how we can become his disciples.

The King of the Kingdom

January 28, 2018

Luke 15 draws us into three parables about things that were lost: a lost sheep, lost money and finally, lost sons. In increasingly intensive ways, each of these parables shows us something of how God sees us, how we ought to see each other and how we are all lost and therefore need God's merciful rescue to be part of his kingdom. Listen in as we consider these things together.

Keep Your Head in the Clouds, 1-28-2018 - Irwyn Ince

1. What does it mean in everyday life as Christians to “keep our heads in the clouds?”

2. What are the ways that being shaped into a new “we” as a diverse church can be disorienting?

3. What does it mean to understand our ethnic identity as subservient to our identity in Jesus Christ?

“If Jesus, the Christ, is so highly favored and acknowledged to be God’s ‘right-hand man’ with all power and authority to effect God’s will and to protect his own—which is implicit in that claim—then Christian life should be entirely oriented by reference to this Christ.” - James Dunn

“It is only those who are the most heavenly minded that are actually able to labor for the most earthly good. Why? Because our longing for peace, healing, and restoration is not rooted in the ability of this world to manufacture it.

1 Corinthians: The Foolishness and Weakness of the Cross, 1-21-2018

2) God extends his grace to “weak,” “foolish,” and “lowly” people in the
world. How is this good news to us today?

We have to humble ourselves at the foot of the cross, confess that we have
sinned and deserve nothing at his hand but judgment, thank him that he
loved us and died for us, and receive from him a full and free forgiveness.
Against this self-humbling our ingrained pride rebels. We resent the idea that
we cannot earn – or even contribute to – our own salvation. So we stumble,
as Paul put it, over the stumbling-block of the cross.
John Stott

The most obscene symbol in human history is the Cross; yet in its ugliness it
remains the most eloquent testimony to human dignity.
R.C. Sproul

God’s grace can reach anyone. … God is not impressed by the public
philosophies, political clout, and extravagant wealth that the word so greatly
admires. … Modern Western evangelicalism is deeply infested with the virus
of triumphalism, and the resulting illness destroys humility, minimizes grace,
and offers far too much homage to the money and influence and “wisdom” of
our day.
D.A. Carson

1 Corinthians: One Church Under God, Indivisible?, 1-14-2018

1) Do you struggle to give thanks for Christ’s church? Name 5 things
you’re grateful for in the Church.

2) In what ways do you see the Church divided? How can we foster a
healthy, cross-centered “unity” at our church?

Divisions in the church are contrary to the gospel. We must not divide the
church along lines of loyalty to human leaders.
Richard Pratt

In deep disappointment I have wept over the laxity of the church. But be
assured that my tears have been tears of love. There can be no deep
disappointment where there is not deep love. Yes, I love the church. How
could I do otherwise? I am in the rather unique position of being the son, the
grandson and the great grandson of preachers. Yes, I see the church as the
body of Christ. But, oh! How we have blemished and scarred that body
through social neglect and through fear of being nonconformists.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Many of us have so succumbed to the tribalism in the church that we’ve
started labeling people who are like us as “right” and people who are
different than us as “wrong.”
Christena Cleveland

The Kingdom of God

January 14, 2018

“The Kingdom of God” can be a difficult phrase to understand. What does it actually mean? How do we relate to that kingdom? Does it have any significance for us in the 21st century? Mark 1:1-15 draws us into an exploration of what the Kingdom of God is all about by zeroing in on the One who brings it about: Jesus Christ. Listen in as we investigate the Kingdom of God and its powerful relevance for our lives.

New Day, New Life: Glory from Pain

God at the Center

January 07, 2018

As we step into 2018, what do you hope for in this year? What do you hope for in your future? Rev. 21:1-5 invites us to consider what God offers us as a sure, guaranteed hope for the best possible future. Listen in as we consider what this future looks like and what it means for us.

New Day, New Life: New Birth

Something Old, Something New

December 31, 2017

In this passage, John gives us something old and something new – the commandment to love. Listen in as we consider what it looks like to love the way John says we should love and how we can ever hope to love that way.

Witness and Light

December 24, 2017

Christmas can be a time where we feel empty. We can feel like something is missing and we’re living in the dark. Do you feel that way? John 1:1-18 invites you to meet the God who shines light into the darkness of our world in the person of his Son, Jesus Christ. Listen in as we consider what it means for God to bring light into our lives through the gospel.

Born to Live

December 17, 2017

Often Christmas raises the question of our quality of life. Most commercials ask us if we have enough things or the right things in our life? But if we listen to them, are we starting at the wrong place? Are we basing our quality of life only on the physical? What about the Spiritual? Listen in as we consider what John 1:1-18 has to teach us about true life in Jesus Christ.

Advent - The Word Became Flesh: Light and Witness - Russ 12-24-2017

- What unnecessary fears stand in the way of your witness to the person and work of Christ?

- How might you pray specifically for God’s light to scatter the darkness in your life?

"Bethlehem is not the end of our journey but only the beginning - not home but the place through which we must pass if ever we are to reach home at last.”
― Frederick Buechner

“Nothing was so necessary for raising our hope as to show us how deeply God loved us. And what could afford us a stronger proof of this than that the Son of God should become a partner with us of human nature?” - Augustine of Hippo

Advent - The Word Became Flesh: Word In A Manger - Duke 12-10-2017

December 12, 2017

The Christian story is precisely the story of one grand miracle, the Christian assertion being that what is beyond all space and time, what is uncreated, eternal, come into nature, into human nature, descended into His own universe, and rose again, bringing nature up with Him. It is precisely one great miracle. If you take that away there is nothing specifically Christian left.

C.S. Lewis

The increasing influence of Eastern religions on the West, certain postmodern views of truth, and religious pluralism all emphasize God’s incomprehensibility so much that he is eventually made to seem unknowable. It then becomes impossible to say anything definitively true or false about him, and people then think that the only heresy is claiming that there is any heresy at all!

The Word Made Flesh: Word in a Manger

Word in a Manger

December 10, 2017

In John 1:1-18, Christmas is a story of intimacy and vulnerability. The God of the universe communicates himself to the world, as his Eternal Son, the ‘Word,’ took on flesh. Listen in as we consider what it means for the Word to be made flesh and dwell among us in such great intimacy and vulnerability.

CQ White Cultural Awareness Panel

December 09, 2017

A panel discusses their experience of growing in cultural awareness of their own white culture, how they are perceived and perceive the world around them and how the gospel calls us to shape our understanding of culture through biblical values.

Advent - The Word Became Flesh: The Gift of the Lord’s Glorious Grace - Yancie 12-3-2017

December 04, 2017

What have you begin longing for during this Christmas season? What does Christ promise as a fulfillment to you immediately and ultimately?

When this time of the year becomes stressful and/or challenging, what will you use as a reminder of God's gift of grace towards you?

Scripture’s denial that our best works are sufficient in themselves to please God or to compensate for our weaknesses makes our spiritual desperation more acute and, thus, our appreciation of grace becomes more emphatic. Overwhelming gratitude for the spiritual deliverance our Savior alone provides will engender a humble and glad willingness to dedicate the strength of our lives to our Savior’s glory.

–Rev Dr. Bryan Chapell

But the blessing Christ promised, the blessing of great reward, is a reward of grace. The blessing is promised even though it is not earned. Augustine said it this way: Our rewards in heaven are a result of God’s crowning His own gifts.

The Word Made Flesh: The Gift of God’s Glorious Grace

The Gift of the Lord’s Glorious Grace

December 03, 2017

Christmas can be a difficult season. It can be filled with hope and joy but it can also be full of sadness and disappointment. We can often hope for things we don’t end up getting, like gifts or affection. John 1:1-18 invites us to consider the very first Christmas and the gracious gift God gave in his Son Jesus – a gift that doesn’t disappoint and an affection that can’t be matched. Listen in as we consider what it means to receive this glorious and gracious gift.

Jonah: Mission to the Great City - Scandalous Compassion 11-26-2017

November 27, 2017

1) Let’s be honest: Who do you have the hardest time believing is worthy of God’s compassion?
2) How have the “idols” of your heart caused you to “turn away” from God’s love?

Grace doesn’t make demands. It just gives. And from our vantage point, it always gives to the wrong person. We see this over and over again in the Gospels: Jesus is always giving to the wrong people—prostitutes, tax collectors, half-breeds. The most extravagant sinners of Jesus’s day receive His most compassionate welcome. Grace is a divine vulgarity that stands
caution on its head.”
Preston Sprinkle

If I care to listen, I hear a loud whisper from the gospel that I did not get what I deserved. I deserved punishment and got forgiveness. I deserved wrath and got love. I deserved debtor&#39;s prison and got instead a clean credit history. I deserved stern lectures and crawl-on- your-knees repentance. Instead, I got a banquet spread for me.
Phillip Yancey

A ‘god’ is the term for that to which we are to look for all good and in which we are to find refuge in all need. Therefore, to have a god is nothing else than to trust and believe in that one with your whole heart. … Anything on which your heart relies and depends, I say, that is really your God.
Martin Luther

You can safely assume you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.”
Anne Lamott

Shadows of Christ: Feasting: Celebration, 11.26.2017

November 26, 2017

The rhythms of Old Testament worship and community life are baked into the story of the New Testament. The very fact that the Holy Spirit descended on Pentecost says something utterly surprising about what we are supposed to learn about life from the Old Testament discipline of celebration.

The Goal of Mission

November 26, 2017

When we focus on God's mission it's easy to think we have to get busy and get to work. It's easy to start thinking mission is actually the goal. But mission is only the means to the goal. So what is the goal? Where is all this headed? Revelation 7:9-17 shows us what the goal of mission looks like. Listen in as we see what the goal of God's mission is and how we live that mission out as his people.

Jonah: Mission to the Great City - Gratitude from the Grave - 11-19-2017

November 20, 2017

Jonah 2:1-10

1) If you’re going through a hard time, what might “thanksgiving” look like for you? How can you praise God even while you’re in “the pit” and when it feels like your life is “ebbing away”?
2) How have the “idols” of your heart caused you to “turn away” from God’s love?

"Gratitude" comes from the same word as freedom (gratis = free). Gratitude is the freeing expression of a free heart toward one who freely gave.
Ravi Zacharias

Our vision is so limited we can hardly imagine a love that does not show itself in protection from suffering. The love of God is of a different nature altogether. It stands in the very teeth of suffering. The cross was the proof of His love—that He gave that Son, that He let Him go to Calvary’s cross, though “legions of angels” might have rescued Him. He will not necessarily protect us—not from anything it takes to make us like His Son.
Elisabeth Elliot

A ‘god’ is the term for that to which we are to look for all good and in which we are to find refuge in all need. Therefore, to have a god is nothing else than to trust and believe in that one with your whole heart. … Anything on which your heart relies and depends, I say, that is really your God.
Martin Luther

You can safely assume you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.”
Anne Lamott

Shadows of Christ: Sabbath: Rest 11.19.2017

November 19, 2017

Pastor Glenn Hoburg continues our series "Shadows ofChrist" exploring what we can learn about Jesus from the Old Testament worship by exploring what he meant when he called himself Lord of the Sabbath.

The Community of Mission

November 19, 2017

Do you feel prepared to share the hope you have in Christ? What if each of us was prepared to speak on, boast in and defend the hope of the gospel to our friends and family? 1 Peter 3:8-17 encourages us to do just that and it shows us how to do it. Listen in as we hear how to prepare to share the hope we have in Christ as God’s people on God’s mission.

Jonah: Mission to the Great City - Running Away - 11-12-2017

November 13, 2017

Jonah 1:1-17

1) What’s one way or one area of your life in which you’re running from God? Are you running from God’s call to love this great city?
2) Is it possible that a “storm” in your life is part of God’s pursuit of your heart—his loving commitment to get you back?

You can run away from God, but he will always come and find you.
Sally Lloyd-Jones

God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself because it is not there. There is no such thing.
C.S. Lewis

Shadows of Christ: Priests: Duties, 11.12.2018

November 12, 2017

"God only knows/God makes his plans/The information's unavailable to the mortal man."

The Bible tells a very different story than the lyrics quoted by Paul Simon above. It tells the story of a God who wants to know and be known, even across what should be an overwhelming gulf. The role of the priests in the Old Testament point to this aspect of God's character in a way that's fulfilled by Jesus in the New Testament.

The Method of Mission

November 12, 2017

As Christians, what shapes the way we bring the gospel to others? We’re often drawn to what seems to work best, what other, ‘big,’ churches may be doing or whatever the latest trend in marketing or business might be. But what does Scripture say it should be? John 20:19-21 suggests it should look like Christ. Listen in as we consider what it means for Christ to be our pattern for sharing the gospel.

The Gospel According to Ruth: “He Has Not Left You Without” - 11-5-2017

November 06, 2017

1) What’s one lesson from today’s passage that might impact how you see yourself, your neighbor, or your God in the coming week? How might it impact how you live (attitudes, actions)?
2) What’s one question (or objection) this passage raises for you?

We think of the spiritual meaning of “redeemer” but not the every day “redeeming” that is crying out all around us. Our lives should reflect the “redeeming” life of Jesus. If that were to happen, we would live not one life, but a thousand lives.
Paul Miller

Jesus [is] the man who is not just safe, but who is the embodiment of refuge, and salvation.
Rachael Starke

The violent winds of suffering and trouble blow us into the Lord’s protective hands.
Sadhu Sundar Singh

The Welcome of Jesus, 11.05.2017

November 05, 2017

Pastor Zack Eswine concludes the series of talks he started on our 2017 Fall Retreat with a look at what the early Roman world's reaction to the emerging Christian faith can teach us about our relationship to our neighbors today.

The Work of Mission

November 05, 2017

As Christians, we may know we’re supposed to be doing the work of God’s mission to redeem, restore and renew the world, but what does that look like? According to Jesus in Matthew 5:13-16, doing the work of God’s mission looks like being salt and light for the world. But what does that mean? Listen in as we consider what it means to be salt and light in our world as God’s people on God’s mission.

The Beginnings of Mission

October 29, 2017

What does God’s mission to restore, redeem and renew the world look like when it’s just getting started? The story of how God promises to bless Abraham in Genesis 12 (a man with big problems) to make him a blessing to the world shows us something of what these early days of mission look like. Listen in as we consider what God’s man (Abraham) and God’s mission through Abraham show us about our own role as God’s people on God’s Mission.

The Gospel According to Ruth - The Threshing Floor - 10-22-2017

October 23, 2017

Ruth 3

How do Boaz and Ruth illustrate “loyal love” to us? What do they say and do?
2) Does the “romance” in this passage surprising to you? Make you uncomfortable? What do we learn about the Bible’s take on marriage and romance?

We think of the spiritual meaning of “redeemer” but not the every day “redeeming” that is crying out all around us. Our lives should reflect the “redeeming” life of Jesus. If that were to happen, we would live not one life, but a thousand lives.
Paul Miller

Jesus [is] the man who is not just safe, but who is the embodiment of refuge, and salvation.
Rachael Starke

The violent winds of suffering and trouble blow us into the Lord’s protective hands.
Sadhu Sundar Singh

Shadows of Christ: Offerings: Devotion

The Gospel According to Ruth - Grace in the Gleaning Fields - 10-15-2017

October 17, 2017

Ruth 2

1) What does this passage teach us how we can love each other more
generously?
2) What are ways you can serve as a go-el (redeemer) of others? How is
Jesus our ultimate go-el redeemer?

We think of the spiritual meaning of “redeemer” but not the every day “redeeming” that
is crying out all around us. Our lives should reflect the “redeeming” life of Jesus. If that
were to happen, we would live not one life, but a thousand lives.
Paul Miller

Jesus [is] the man who is not just safe, but who is the embodiment of refuge,
and salvation.
Rachael Starke
The violent winds of suffering and trouble blow us into the Lord’s protective
hands.
Sadhu Sundar Singh

What’s My Motivation?

The Point

October 15, 2017

Chapter 4 of Jonah brings us to the thematic climax of the book. Everything leads up to this point. But what is the point of this story? Is it more about the runaway prophet or more about the runaway love of God for a people not yet his own? Listen in as we consider the point of this story and how it drives us to evaluate our own willingness to engage the ‘other’ for the sake of God’s mission to redeem, restore and renew our world.

The Gospel According to Ruth: Bitterness and Kindness - 10-8-2017

1) Can you relate to the “bitter” anguish that Naomi suffered? How have
you grieved that loss?
2) Have you ever experienced—or offered—the kind of sacrificial, loyal
love that Ruth offers to Naomi?

“Providence” says that God is there, God cares, God rules, and God provides. Faith
in such a God undergirds every chapter of Ruth.
David Atkinson
Sometimes [the Old Testament word] hesed is translated “steadfast love.” It combines
commitment with sacrifice. Hesed is one-way love. Love without an exit strategy.
When you love with hesed love, you bind yourself to the object of your love, no matter
what the response is. So if the object of your love snaps at you, you still love that
person. If you’ve had an argument with your spouse in which you were slighted or not
heard, you refuse to retaliate through silence or withholding your affection. Your
response to the other person is entirely independent of how that person has treated
you. Hesed is a stubborn love.
Paul Miller
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust him for his grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.
William Cowper

The Prayer

October 08, 2017

Psalm 67 stands as one of the great prayers of the Old Testament. But some of what it says is surprising and counterintuitive to what we’d expect in a prayer ‘for the nations’. Listen in as we consider what this psalm has to tell us about God’s heart for the nations and how He enables us to share in his gracious work.

What is our Mission? Neighborhood - 10-1-2017

October 02, 2017

Genesis 2:8-22

Our Vision: A True Neighborhood
Our Mission: To build a gospel community that is intentionally “spiritually diverse,” cross-cultural, and
neighborhood-centered for the good of our neighbors and the glory of Jesus Christ in Columbia Heights, Mount Pleasant, Adams Morgan, Petworth, and beyond.

1) What do you think about the important the Bible puts on “place”? What are ways you live without attentiveness to where you are and who/what surrounds you?
2) What would it look like for you to learn to this neighborhood? How can you become a better servant and cultivator, rather than consumer, of the gifts of our neighborhood?

We become neighbors when we are willing to cross the road for one another. There is a lot of road crossing to do. We are all very busy in our own circles. We have our own people to go to and our own affairs to take care of. But if we could cross the road once in a while and pay attention to what is happening on the other side, we might indeed become neighbors.
Henri Nouwen

To be rooted is perhaps the most important and least recognized need of the human soul.
Simone Weil

Until we embrace our mutual brokenness, our work with low-income people is likely to do more harm than good. I sometimes unintentionally reduce poor people to objects that I use to fulfill my own need to accomplish something. I am not okay, and you are not okay. But Jesus can fix us both.
Steve Corbett & Brian Fikkert

In the Christian imagination, where you live gets equal billing with what you believe. Geography and theology are biblical bedfellows. Everything that the creator God does, and therefore everything that we do, since we are his creatures and can hardly do anything in any other way, is in place. All living is local—this land, this neighborhood, these trees and streets and house, this work, these shops and markets.
Eugene Peterson

A True Neighbor

The Impact

October 01, 2017

Jonah 3:1-10 shows us the surprising impact of God’s mission on what was a ruthless and wicked city – Nineveh. In this passage, God sends his prophet to deliver a hard word to a hardened city and against all odds, the city changes. Listen in as we consider the impact of God’s mission to redeem and restore broken people and a broken world and how that mission can change us and our city.

What’s our Mission? Cross-Cultural Community - 9-24-2017

September 25, 2017

Our Vision: A True Neighborhood
Our Mission: To build a gospel community that is intentionally “spiritually diverse,” cross-cultural, and
neighborhood-centered for the good of our neighbors and the glory of Jesus Christ in Columbia Heights, Mount
Pleasant, Adams Morgan, and beyond.

1) What’s hardest for you about building a “cross-cultural community”?
2) What’s one thing in this passage that (a) challenges you, (b) encourages you, in the effort to grow as a cross-cultural church family?

Unity is not uniformity, nor is it sameness. Just as the Godhead is made up of three distinct Persons — the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit — each unique in personhood and yet at the same time one in essence, unity reflects a oneness that does not negate individuality. God’s creative variety is replete displaying itself through a humanity crafted in different shapes, colors, and style. Unity occurs when we combine our unique differences together as we head toward a common goal. It is the sense that the thing that we are gathered for and moving toward is bigger than our own individual preferences.
Tony Evans, Oneness Embraced

Multiracial congregations can play an important role in reducing racial division and inequality and that this should be a goal of Christian people. We need to move beyond simply stating that Christian worship is the most segregated hour in the United States.
Curtiss Paul DeYoung et al, United by Faith

Unity in diversity is more beautiful and more powerful than the unity of uniformity. This carries over to the untold differences that exist between the peoples of the world. When their diversity unites in worship to God, the beauty of their praise will echo the depth and greatness of God’s beauty far more than if the redeemed were from only a few different people groups.
John Piper, Let the Nations Be Glad

Shadows of Christ: Tabernacle: Showroom of Glory

September 24, 2017

The Old Testament gives detailed instructions for how the "tent of meeting" is supposed to be designed. Why? Is God micro-managing Israel? Or is there an ordering logic to the point-by-point instructions? And what does it have to do with Jesus?

This sermon is part of our series "Shadows of Christ," exploring how the Old Testament helps us better understand the life of Jesus.

Liberty to the Captives

September 24, 2017

Spirituality is very popular today, but what does Scripture say it means to be ‘spiritual’ as a Christian? In Luke 4:14-22, Jesus himself shows us exactly what Christian Spirituality looks like – and it may not be what we think it is. Listen in as we consider what it is to a have a true Christian spirituality.

What is our Mission? ‘Spiritually Diverse’ Community - 9-17-2017

September 18, 2017

John 1:43-50

1) In your own words, what is a “spiritually diverse” community?
2) Whether you’re a newcomer to Christianity or a professing Christian,
how does Jesus teach Christians how to relate with those who believe
differently than they?

Our Vision: A True Neighborhood

Our Mission: To build a gospel community that is intentionally “spiritually diverse,” cross-cultural, and
neighborhood-centered for the good of our neighbors and the glory of Jesus Christ in Columbia Heights, Mount
Pleasant, Adams Morgan, and beyond.

In faith there is enough light for those who want to believe and enough shadows to
blind those who don’t.
Blaise Pascal, Pensées

If ours is an examined faith, we should be unafraid to doubt. If doubt is eventually
justified, we were believing what clearly was not worth believing. But if doubt is
answered, our faith has grown stronger. It knows God more certainly and it can enjoy
God more deeply.
Os Guinness, In Two Minds

The Hope

September 17, 2017

Jonah 1:17-2:10 might be the most famous passage in the whole book, but what does this famous scene in which the prophet cries out from the belly of the fish have to say to us today? The passage speaks to those of us who, like Jonah, have felt ourselves sinking under life’s waves and it invites us to lay hold of hope. Listen in as we consider what the hope of Jonah 1:17-2:10 looks like.

What is our Mission? Gospel Community 9-10-2017

September 11, 2017

1 Peter 4:8-11

1) In your own words, what is a “gospel community”?
2) What’s one way you can help build a “gospel community” at Grace
Meridian Hill?

Our Vision: A True Neighborhood
Our Mission: To build a gospel community that is
intentionally “spiritually diverse,” cross-cultural, and
neighborhood-centered for the good of our neighbors and
the glory of Jesus Christ in Columbia Heights, Mount
Pleasant, Adams Morgan, and beyond.

This side of heaven, relationships and ministry are always shaped in the
forge of struggle. None of us get to relate to perfect people or avoid the
effects of the fall on the work we attempt to do. Yet amid the mess, we find
the highest joys of relationship and ministry.
Timothy Lane, Relationships: A Mess Worth Making

Although we often think of hospitality as a tame and pleasant practice,
Christian hospitality has always had a subversive, countercultural dimension.
Christine Pohl, Making Room

Because you have the gift of grace from Christ, you are a gift to the body.
Seen this way, ministry is a natural and delightful duty. In a church that
recognizes that every member is given grace from Christ, every member will
be prized, every ministry will be appreciated, every differing experience of
the grace of Christ will be treasured. Such an environment will communicate
“we need you!”
R. Paul Stevens, Liberating the Laity

The Dynamics

September 10, 2017

What is the relationship of the church to the world in the midst of God’s mission? What ought it to be? Jonah 1:4-16 invites us to consider the truth about those both inside and outside the church and how we, as God’s people, need to change in order to live in line with God’s redemptive mission for his world.

Who is God? God Unchanging 9-3-2017

In your most challenging moments of life and in your darkest hour, when hope seems to vanish, how does the assurance of God's unchanging purpose and goodness give you confidence for the future?

Do you ever feel that God is far from you? In aspects of your prayer life, has God remained silent to answer? How can you go on trusting that God remains faithfully the same?

Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. --Moses, Psalm 90:2

The first and fundamental difference between the Creator and His creatures is that they are mutable and their nature admits of change, whereas God is immutable and can never cease to be what He is. --J. I. Packer

A changeable God would be a terror to the righteous, they would have no sure anchorage, and amid a changing world they would be driven to and fro in perpetual fear of shipwreck… Our heart leaps for joy as we bow before One who has never broken His word or changed His purpose. --C. H. Spurgeon

Prayer and Witness

The Paradigm

September 03, 2017

Where do we get our idea of what God’s mission looks like for his people? How do you know if you’re in line with the missional call of God? The book of Jonah frames God’s mission up for us, giving us a paradigm for the calling of Christian mission as well as the cost. Listen in as we consider what it means to be on God’s mission in a city like DC.

Christ in the House

August 27, 2017

When Jesus enters our lives, the way we understand the world around us begins to change—not just on a superficial level, but in a deep and wholistic way. Even the things that might have seemed repulsive to us before can become compelling and even beautiful.

My God Will Provide

August 27, 2017

The God of the bible has set his heart on this earth, to build it into what he always meant it to be. And God has committed himself to making sure that everything necessary for that design to become a reality is available for the workers he’s using to bring it about – namely, His church. Though we, the church, desire to do this work, we often forget that it’s God who supplies for our needs, not us. Philippians 4:10-23 invites us to find our provision for this gospel work in Christ and to recommit ourselves to God’s mission. Listen in as we consider what it means to find enough in Christ and how we are to commit ourselves to working together for the gospel.

Put On Christ

The Peace of God

August 20, 2017

Many of us live with high levels of stress today. So much so we might be tempted to think that our circumstances are the most stressful of any in history. But the truth is, we don't have a historic monopoly on anxiety. Even the early church suffered significant (maybe even greater) stress. In that light, Philippians 4:1-9 invites us to consider that we are not alone in facing stress and that even in stress we are still called (and enabled) to be a people full of the good news. Listen in as we consider how the gospel addresses our very real stresses and how it enables us to live in peace and hope.

Who is God? The Wrath of God - 8-13-2017

Is the idea of the “wrath” of God difficult for you to accept? Explain.

What are (a) 1-2 things you learned about God’s wrath today, (b) 1-2 questions you still have about God’s wrath?

God’s wrath in the Bible is never the capricious, self-indulgent, irritable, morally ignoble thing that human anger so often is. It is, instead, a right and necessary reaction to objective moral evil.

J.I. Packer

Though I used to complain about the indecency of the idea of God’s wrath, I came to think that I would have to rebel against a God who wasn’t wrathful at the sight of the world’s evil. God isn’t wrathful in spite of being love. God is wrathful because God is love.

Miroslav Volf

Do you wish to see God's love? Look at the Cross. Do you wish to see God's wrath? Look at the Cross.

Identity in Christ

Awaiting a Savior

August 13, 2017

As Christians, we are called to live lives that evidence the hope we have in Christ while we wait for him to come back. Philippians 3:17-21 invites us to consider just exactly how we live such lives, particularly when the world around us seems more full of pain than hope. Listen in as we consider what it means to be faithful witnesses of the gospel as we wait for our Savior's return.

Who is God? The Love of God 8-6-2017

August 07, 2017

What are some differences between God’s love and human love?
2) How might the love of God impact your thoughts, words, or deeds in the
coming week?

Hosea 1:1-3; 3:1-5; 14:1-6

See, then, what is the love of God, that he gave his Son from of old, and has
never revoked the gift. He stands to his gift, and continues still to give his
dear Son to all who are willing to accept him. Out of the riches of his grace
he has given, is giving, and will give the Lord Jesus Christ, and all the
priceless gifts which are contained in him, to all needy sinners who will
simply trust him.
Charles Sprugeon

One who has been touched by grace will no longer look on those who stray
as “those evil people” or “those poor people who need our help.” Nor must
we search for signs of “loveworthiness.” Grace teaches us that God loves
because of who God is, not because of who we are.
Philip Yancey

Pressing on for the Prize

August 06, 2017

What are you focusing on in life? Your past? Your present? Your future? Whatever your focus is, in Philippians 3:12-16 the Apostle Paul invites us to shift our life's focus to the only thing worth seeking: the prize of eternal life in Jesus Christ. Listen in as we consider what it means to be focused on this hope and how such a focus changes us.